NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over the United States east coast during a snow storm on December 17, 2016. This print resolution image was created for use on the GPM Senior Review document.

The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions.

GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.

Data Used:GPM/DPR/Ku
12/17/2016 11:53:54 - 13:26:28Z
GPM/GMI/Surface Precipitation
12/17/2016 11:53:54 - 13:26:28Z
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.